GPSart | GPSarte

About

If in the 1960/70s the "land" was the reference for some artists, such as Richard Long, connected to discussions surrounding the problem of the space, territory and to the deterritorialization practices, nowadays art needs to think the man before the machine and, by reaction, before the techniques of configuration of the space, which had dislocated it abruptly to places that are physically virtualized and represented by computational cartographies. The Own ways project explores the deconstruction of the given territorial spaces and inserts the "real" man in this new cartography of the space representation.

The Own ways proposes transform the representation of the cities through the creative intervention of the users on the maps using their own cell/mobile phones, in this case, in the Google Maps, using a software (GPSart) especially developed for the interactors. With the software, the user can draw images and paint lines with colors on the routes chosen in the Map of the city where he is. The GPSart software locates the user by GPS (Latitude and Longitude) and paints lines where the user passed with his cell phone with GPS in the "real world" on the Map, intervening directly in the city representation, in this case, on the Map of the city. Everybody who has a cell phone with GPS or a GPS device can draw lines on the Maps with this system. The user only needs to fill in a register form on the GPSart software after install the program in his cell phone to start drawing his own images and traces in the Map of the city where he is located.

GPSart was created by Cicero Silva and Marcos Khoriati.

faq

How can I use the GPSart software?

There are some steps to use the GPSart:

1 – Download and install the GPSart software into the user cell phone. The users-participants will be invited to create an account using the GPSart software, option New account, using their cell phones or the cell phones provided by the exhibition

see more images from the software FAQ

How does it work?

We have written the GPSart software in Java and it works on the Symbian and Windows Mobile operational systems. The software consists in a Midlet for cell phones and it is possible to use it in all of cell/mobile phones that support the Java language and have an Internet connection or an wireless connection. The GPSart works on cell phones with a GPS system or with Bluetooth connection to a GPS device. The website where the generated images are projected is a Google Maps Mashup and the resources of the server are programmed in Mysql and PHP. To run the software it is necessary a cell/mobile phone with GPS (internal or connected via Bluetooth), an Internet connection on the cell/mobile phone or a cell phone with wireless connection (to connect to a hotspot) and send the image to the server.

How much does it cost to use it ?

You will use your Internet connection. All the rest is free of charge! Enjoy!

Projects

Own ways: the project was exhibited in the FILE (Electronic Language International Festival) Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro (Feb, 2008). In the Own ways project, the user will be the owner of a cell phone with GPS and Internet and the images (lines) will be printed in the map of the city where he is walking. Each step of the artist-user-painter will generate an image in the Google Map.